Depthless Hunger

Chapter 78: Different Breakthroughs

Mana wasn't so difficult, in the end.

Zae Zin Nim had been told she was a genius so many times that she worried her teachers were trying to butter her up for some sacrifice. Finding her cultivation thoroughly blocked had shaken her confidence, then going to Deadwaste and struggling had been depressing. As she watched the blue fire dance over her fingers in accordance with her will, she felt a bit of her confidence return. This "Class" ability was within her grasp.

Then of course, there was Kai, who shook her confidence in an entirely different way.

The only people to ever keep up with her had been cultivators who were given amazing legacies or stumbled across ancient cultivation methods. Even they had struggled or slowed, often becoming distracted by the benefits of power or wasting their time taking revenge against opponents who couldn't touch them.

Kai did none of that. The level of focus he brought to everything, including his cultivation, was absolutely insane. Despite the fact that he was converting different energies and adapting to crystals in a terrible environment, he was making quick progress. Of course, cultivation was a long and slow path, especially compared to the hot flows of mana, so he wasn't going to advance a stage any time soon. But she knew plenty of immortals who she doubted would be keeping ahead of him for long.

What troubled her most was the way he threw himself into the unknown of his monstrous techniques. She could, reluctantly, acknowledge that Deadwaste had superior methods for uncovering unknown sources of power and that Kai was well-studied in them. Yet he still charged down endless dead ends, smashed into the walls, and just retraced his steps to try again. All the while managing to avoid a deviation that would ruin his advancement permanently.

Then again, deviations just didn't seem to be the same here. Her language might actually be improper in some cases, since their training wasn't exactly cultivation. That didn't make it any less disturbing that he managed to not just walk the line, he sprinted down it.

From what he had told her about his different ability awakenings, he had already received worse than most fire deviations due to pure luck. Perhaps the heavens had already thrown so many torments at him that there was nothing left.

For the first time, Zae Zin Nim began to think not about whether Kai could be helpful to her, she began to worry that she might be left behind.

So she forced herself to apply all her attention to her mana again. She wouldn't let herself become a lazy genius coasting on her reputation, she would throw herself into her training with all her being. And it was training, not cultivation. Accepting that difference was an important step forward.

Her first month of training had taken her Coldfire Corona from 1 to 7 fairly quickly and then slowed, which Kai said was typical, even for the top hunters of each generation. She had been hoping that she could blow past even their records, but it seemed it wouldn't be so easy. It would be more important to do everything right, to build her Class foundation before she passed the ninth step and it developed into its true form.

That meant more physical work. Zae Zin Nim got to her feet and began working on her new training regimen. Kai was less useful there, since his own Class had never given him any help. All she could do was follow the best practices and try to relax so her instincts could take over.

She tossed a stone into the air, then shattered it with a precise application of qi. Before the fragments could hit the ground, she unleashed qi attacks to destroy each one. Unlike usual, the bolts were surrounded by mana, leaving trails of blue flame through the air. The rocks never had a chance and only dust hit the ground.

Of course, she could have done that before. Simply adding mana to attacks was by far the easiest application she had discovered so far: the mana naturally peeled off her dantian to join her qi, almost without her thinking about it. She appreciated the boost, but it would never let her challenge someone truly above her, like a cultivator in Nascent Foundation stage or above.

Zae Zin Nim picked a larger rock and began practicing her palm strikes. First with no energy at all, to be certain her form was correct, then with qi, then combining qi and mana. This was the second application of her Class that came intuitively. Chaotic as mana could be, something about the cold flames she had gained naturally aligned with soft martial arts.

To truly find the limits of that synergy, she suspected she would need to practice on live targets. She was actually looking forward to when they would go fight monsters.

Those two skills had reached a basic level of understanding, which left... something else. It was infuriating, but she was certain that she was missing something about her Class. When Kai had said it, she had been skeptical, then she had slowly come to the same conclusion. She felt as though someone had given her two thirds of a cultivation technique and withheld the secret third that would strengthen the others. There was something else for her to find and she had yet to discover it.

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That absence was what prevented her from using the valuable "enhancement scroll" that he had given her. Only with a clear understanding could she move forward. The problem was that none of her experience up to that point equipped her to find it, at least not fast enough for her liking.

When she recognized that she wasn't making any more progress, Zae Zin Nim switched from training back to cultivation. Chilling fire circulated within her, clearing a path for her qi. She was moving toward the peak after so long, and it should have been exhilarating. Passing the Body Refinement stage could finally remove her physical problems and would also grant her enough power that she wouldn't need to fear the local elite mercenaries. But at times it still seemed so far away...

Especially when she watched Kai train, as she gradually realized she was doing.

Feeling her gaze, he lowered the boulder he was carrying to the ground and leaned on it. "I was thinking of trying simultaneous cultivation next," he said, as if that was a normal thing. "Do you think it's too early?"

"No, you could probably begin now." Intimidating as his progress was, she wouldn't lie to slow him down. "Just be cautious, and if you feel the qi slipping, stop immediately."

"I know you said not to push, but I'm just getting frustrated." Kai took a drink from their water stone as he sat down opposite her. "All our other training helped me enough, I thought my Physique would break through, but I've been stuck at F-9 for so long..."

She couldn't help but snort. "You're treating E rank Physique as if it's something to be learned in an afternoon."

"But you said everyone on Cloudspire reached rank F by the time they were an adult."

"Not everyone, just cultivators." She paused as she considered how to frame the issue for him. Perhaps she had exaggerated her homeland's accomplishments slightly and given him the wrong impression. "Most struggle to reach the peak of F and rely on their qi alone. This leads to a very common blockage when they try to advance from Body Refinement to Nascent Foundation. From there, the majority remain in E rank for the rest of their lives. Only those with unusually physical cultivation techniques might reach D, and that is exceedingly rare."

"Huh. I don't suppose you have any tips for getting through?"

"I'm still in the F rank myself, as I'm sure you've noticed, and my physical path is entirely different from yours."

"Understood." Kai sat down to cultivate, but his mind wasn't properly clear. Still troubled by his lack of progress, even if it was just in his own mind. Zae Zin Nim decided that, as self-motivated as he was, he could use some encouragement to inspire his training.

"The E rank shift often leads to a substantial physical development," she said. "In my case, the absorption of the Blackblood Physique. I've seen others experience physical changes, such as their skin growing paler. There's even an ogre clan that grows horns. You may require more time to develop your potential changes."

"Really? Interesting. I always thought that reaching F was the big gap, since it reinforces the body with mana. I haven't seen any unusual characteristics on the few E rank Physiques I've seen."

"It depends on your path. But given your condition, and the way that your monstrous skills inhabit your body, I would be surprised if there was not some manner of physical change. You need to get it right or the rest of your development will be harmed. So consider your work at this stage an investment, not time wasted."

"Thanks, Zae Zin Nim." He flashed her a smile and then threw himself into his training.

That accursed smile...

The "simultaneous cultivation" he was attempting was a merger of purely physical techniques and proper cultivation. This time, it meant standing on one arm and holding his body upright while he stirred his qi. Unusual positions were nothing new, but he was also exerting his mana throughout his body in the local fashion. She wouldn't have advised it for anyone else. His progress on both sides was weakened, but she guessed that he hoped that the intense stress would help his Physique break through.

Watching him had been a mistake. With his body and soul both pressed to their limits, there was sweat pouring down his body. Her cultivation continued within her on pure habit as she watched one drop of sweat roll its way over the tensed musculature of his back.

What still bothered her was that she'd never been attracted to a body like his. Most cultivators were fit, but they scorned such large muscles as belonging to the lower classes. Kai was all hair and stubble instead of a refined gentleman. She had laughed with some of her peers over how grotesque such bodies looked, yet now she was staring at one. He looked more like a thug than a man... or perhaps more like a beast.

Zae Zin Nim took a deep breath and made herself look away. Cultivation. Nothing but cultivation.

For all his work, Kai would have been annihilated by a higher stage cultivator. She had been taught that mana was simply an inferior version of qi, but facing the pool had proved that mana could be shockingly intense. Though Deadwaste was still much weaker than Cloudspire, she could imagine another continent with such powerful mana that they would equal cultivators.

So much of what she had learned seemed incorrect now. Instead of being a slovenly barbarian, Kai worked harder than anyone she had ever known. The local officials could be corrupt, but if anything they were less corrupt than those she knew. Razzagah was at least as smart as any of the merchants from home. Only access to power sources separated the local mercenaries like Iroaki from many cultivators.

A vast world outside her sect yawned before her, one in which nothing made any sense and face meant nothing and anyone could die in an instant. It should have terrified her, but Zae Zin Nim only forced herself to focus. She would rise to face it, she just needed time.

Time she wouldn't have. There was a flying wagon hurtling directly toward them.

Both of them were on their feet in an instant, but she recognized the driver as Razzagah. He slowed the wagon to a halt and waved wildly to them. "Guys, shit just went down. The Corinin clan is on the warpath, we've gotta move!"

"They realized what we did?" Kai asked.

"Worse. They're trying to start a war with Irun!"